“Alaa bizikrillahi tatmainnul qulub”--- Is it not in Zikr Allah (Remembrance of Allah) that the heart finds tranquillity? (13:29)
A servant
of Allah does not have the right to forget his real Benefactor. The favours and
blessings which Allah pours upon us at each moment of our lives are so great
that it would be impossible for us to count or compare it with other things. It
is thus absolutely natural that we must turn towards our Benefactor and
remember Him and thank Him for all the things which He has done and is doing
for us. We must always show our gratefulness towards Him Who is The Most
Generous Lord – that is, by doing Zikr Allah.
Verily, a sole verse of the Qur'an or a sole Hadith is sufficient to transform a sincere Muslim and lead him towards the practice of goodness, whereas even a cupboard full of books will not have any effect on a person which has no desire to change for the best. This makes us remember the fact that a donkey will never reap the benefits of books, even if it transports a multiple quantity of them on its back. On the contrary, these increase its burden, like Allah expound before us in the Holy Qur'an:
“… like the donkey
carrying great works of literature.…” (Ch.62 V.6)
In the
light of what I have told you, I will cite some Hadiths:
Hazrat Abu
Huraira (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be
upon him) said: “Allah the Almighty said: I am as My servant thinks I am. I am
with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I
make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I
make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me
an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length. And if he comes to Me
walking, I go to him at speed.” (Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)
Several points
have been detailed in this Hadith.
1) Allah
the Almighty reacts towards His servant in the way the latter thinks of Him and
the degree of hope that he has in Allah.
Thus, a
person must always remain hopeful to obtain the favours and blessings of Allah.
He must always have an absolute faith in Allah whenever he is praying or doing
His Zikr. He must never despair of the forgiveness and favour of Allah. It is a
truth that we all are weak and have committed lots of sins and mistakes and
thus we are liable to be punished for all these bad actions.
But one
must never despair of the mercy of Allah, because it is possible that Allah, by
His Immense Grace and Bounty can forgive us for all our sins. Allah the
Almighty says in the Pure Qur'an:
“Allah does not forgive
idolatry, but He forgives lesser offenses for whomever He wills.” (Ch.4 V.49)
But this
does not mean that Allah the Almighty is obliged to forgive us. We must well
understand that true faith lies between hope (of His forgiveness) and fear (of
His punishment).
Once,
Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) visited a young Sahabi (his companion) who
would soon leave this world. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) asked him
about how he felt. So, his companion replied: “O Messenger of Allah (peace be
upon him), I have hope in the favour and mercy of Allah and at the same time I
am afraid (of His wrath) because of my sins.”
Hazrat
Muhammad (peace be upon him) told him: “When the heart of a believer is filled
with these two feelings; hope and fear (of Allah), Allah the Almighty grants
him that which he hopes and protects him from that which he fears.”
It is
mentioned in a Hadith that the believer is he who considers his sins as great a
burden as that of a mountain which is stumbling down upon him, while a
transgressor is he who considers his sins just like one who easily wards off a
fly when it comes to alight on him. In other words, he takes his sins as
something normal, without much importance. Thus, this Hadith makes us
understand that a person must always be afraid (of the punishment of Allah)
because of his sins and at the same time he must have hope in the mercy of Allah.
Mu’az (May
Allah be pleased with him) died as a martyr with the plague. When he was
nearing the moment to leave this world, he used to lose consciousness quite
often. Each time that he regained consciousness for a little moment, he used to
say: “O Allah! You know that I love You; by Your Glory and Honour, You know
that very well.” Just before, he signed his last breath, he said: “O death! I
like to welcome you; you are a blessed guest but you have come in a time where
there is nothing (to eat) in the house.” Then he said: “O Allah! You know very
well that I have always feared You and today I am leaving this world with a
great hope that You forgive me. O Allah! I love life, not for digging the earth
or cultivating gardens, but instead only to remain thirsty in moments when it
is very hot, to take patience in times of difficulties for the cause of Islam
and to participate in such assemblies where the believers are reunited to
absorb themselves in Your Zikr (Remembrance).” In some Hadiths, Allah said that
He will fulfil the wishes of His servants according to the hope that they have
in Him.
2) The
other point which is mentioned in the first Hadith is: “I am with him when he
makes mention of Me.”
Allah is
together with the believer who remembers Him and as long as the lips and tongue
of this person continues to move and recite the name of Allah and remembers
Him, Allah says: “I am with him”. In other words, Allah gives His special
attention to the one who makes His Zikr, and thus pours down His blessings upon
him as long as he remembers Him.
3) Another
point mentioned in this Hadith is that: “I make mention of him in an assembly
better than it.” In other words, Allah the Almighty mentions with pride the
name of that person who remembers Him, in a much better and much more
honourable assembly than that in which His servant has mentioned Him. Thus, it
is for this reason that Allah praises him and shows pride for the remarkable
actions of His servant who does not hesitate to remain attached to His worship
and Zikr (Remembrance), even though he does not see Allah. Thus, what would
happen if he really had seen Paradise; then how many more worship and Zikr of
Allah he would have done?
4) The last
point but not the least one which has been mentioned in this Hadith, is that if
someone turns towards Allah and comes nearer and nearer to Him, Allah also will
turn towards His servant and approach him more and more. “I go to him at speed”
means that, the favours and blessings of Allah the Almighty will pour down upon
him quickly and in abundance, whereby that servant of His increases all the
more His worship and Zikr.
It has been
reported in another Hadith that the person who has the following four qualities
is really a blessed person both in this life and the Next World.
1. He has a
tongue which is always engaged in Zikr Allah (Remembrance of Allah).
2. He has a
heart filled with gratefulness.
3. He has a
body which supports all difficulties.
4. She is a
lady who does not betray the fidelity which she must have towards her husband,
and she does not waste his money or properties.
Here the
expression which has been used in this Hadith: “a tongue which is always
engaged” (Ratab’ul Lisaan) means “abundance in Zikr Allah” and it
means also “praising and glorifying someone excessively”. My personal opinion
on this subject is that this expression can have another meaning which is much
more straightforward. The truth is, that those people who have really found
love know that just to utter the name of their beloved is enough to bring
sweetness in the mouth, and this fact is a proof that we love Allah, whereby we
find this love in His Remembrance. When there is no Zikr, this shows our
detachment from Allah.
Abu Darda
(May Allah be pleased with him) said that those people who have their tongues
engaged in Zikr Allah will enter Paradise smiling.
From all
that we have come to know about Zikr Allah, let us pray to Allah that He may
always enable us to engage our tongues in Zikr Allah, Insha-Allah.
I end this first part of this sermon on Zikr Allah by praying to our Lord as thus:
“O Allah, enable us to
sacrifice ourselves for Your sake; You are the Creator of this world, and it is
You who have poured upon us Your unlimited favours at each moment of our
lives.” Ameen, Summa Ameen.
----Extracts from Friday Sermon of 06 February 2009 delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.